Prologue

Tale of the Devil's Thirteen

It is a beautiful winter afternoon the year 2030 and things are peaceful in the small community of a rural area. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and a calm wind blew through air as two teenagers played with each other in a field behind a nearby house.

"Come on Katherine keep up! If you keep falling behind I'll have to leave you," joked a boy with short dark brown hair boy as he grinned at the girl behind him.

Said girl caught up to the boy, face red and panting lightly, "You're a jerk you know that Leon? I don't even see how we're brother and sister." Katherine said with a pout.

Leon shrugged his shoulders at this. "Meh, we just got different personalities from our parents is all." Leon turned his gaze back to the house with curiosity. "You know, Dad has been acting weird today. It's like he's anxious about something."

Katherine nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah…Mom is the same way." The girl mumbled as she fiddled with her long raven black hair. "I think there is something that they aren't telling us. D…Do you think we should ask them about it?"

"I don't know…" Leon grimaced. "I'm almost scared to ask. They usually tell us the important things."

Katherine copied her brother's expression. "Come on let's go back to the house. Maybe they were just having a bad morning today?"

"I hope so."

With that said, the two began their walk back to the house. Leon kept his look of curiosity on as he walked beside his sister. Katherine, being the smarter of the two siblings, was deep in thought as she tried to think of possible ideas as to what was going on. The two walked into the gated part of their backyard and quickly saw their dad, asleep in his hammock with his favorite hat covering his face. The teens chuckled at the sight of this and decided to let their father continue his slumber, nestled under the shade of the two trees.

"Dad sure loves his naps doesn't he?" said Leon as he stepped up on the back porch.

Katherine gave a small giggle, "You would think that the man would have boundless energy with as much as he sleeps. No wonder Mom has to keep an eye on him."

"True." The brunette gave a small nod in agreement as the two entered the house, "Anyway, where is Mom actually? I haven't seen her since this morning."

Katherine pointed to the note on the kitchen table. Leon picked it up and began reading it out-loud.

"Gone to the store. I need you to mow the lawn, water the plants, and make sure you bring down the box of clothes from the attic and put them in the living room. So help me if I find you napping again…"

Leon turned around and looked through the window and stared at his dad with an eyebrow raised.

Katherine just shook her head and sighed. "Dad needs to learn to not nap when Mom has chores for him." She looked outside and saw that the yard had actually mowed and from the outstretched water hose, he had watered the plants too. "Huh, well what do you know? He actually did the work this time!" Katherine said in mock surprise.

That was short lived as Leon spoke up, "Uh, I'd take that back," Leon began as he pointed into the living room. "I see no box of clothes in here."

"Oh Dad…" The raven haired teen shook her head again.

Leon sighed and walked toward the stairs. "Come on, let's help Dad out, He's probably still stressed from this morning. Plus, we won't have to hear those two go at it tonight if we do this!" He finished with a smile.

Katherine gave one of her own back and the two headed up the stairs to the second floor hallway. Once up there, Leon went and pulled on the cord in the middle of the hall ceiling, causing a staircase to the attic to come down. Leon climbed up first, followed by his sister.

Once the pair was up there, they looked around at all the old boxes and furniture that was there in the spacious attic. Able to stand at full height, the two began to look for the box of clothes that their mother had requested. The pair searched high and low for the elusive box for the next hour, finding only boxes of old childhood toys, precious china ware, and other knick knacks in various boxes and trunks. The two met back in the middle of the area, covered in sweat and dust.

"How in the world did Mom and Dad get all this stuff up here? I feel like we're trapped in junk city!" Leon whined as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"At least they marked all the boxes up here. If they didn't do that we would be screwed!" Katherine said as she wiped dust off of her purple shirt.

"Yeah you're right sis. I just wish that we knew where the clothes were at! We've been up here for a long time and we still haven't seen hide nor hair of this box!"

Katherine sighed, "Well there is one area we haven't checked. All the way in the back….I don't want to go back there."

Leon gave a childlike smile, "What's wrong? Scared of the dark back there…..or is it about the creepy, crawly spiders back there?

Hearing that word sent shivers up Katherine's spine. She blushed heavily and started to stutter. "N…N..No I'm not! I'm not s..scared of them!"

Leon gave a deadpan expression and raised his eyebrow, "Yeah and cows go 'Quack'."

This caused Katherine to get a little steamed at Leon, whom laughed at her. He turned around and ushered for her to follow. Katherine sighed and followed behind, keeping a sharp eye out for those eight legged freaks.

Leon cleared a path through the boxes and eventually made their way to the back wall where the last of the boxes were stacked. The two began to look through them and soon Leon called out to his sister.

"I found the box! We can ge- AAAHHHHH! "

Leon was cut abruptly when his right leg suddenly fell through the flooring he was standing on. His sister quickly rushed over to his side and tried to pull Leon's leg out of the hole. Regaining his composure, Leon grabbed his leg along with Katherine and pulled with all his might, and with an audible "Pop" the wood around his leg broke and freed his leg, causing Leon to fall on his butt, clutching his bruised leg.

"Are you ok?!" Katherine gasped as she got on her knees next to her brother.

"Yeah..I'm fine, but why did the floor break?"

Leon scooted over to the hole and looked down the whole and saw something unexpected. "Hey Katherine, there's something down in there!" Leon said as he pointed down the hole.

Katherine got up and went over to Leon and looked down the hole. There was indeed something down there, but she couldn't tell what it was. "What is it?"

Leon stuck his arm in the hole and grabbed at the object. "I…think it's some kind of….trunk? I can feel a keyhole on it so it must be."

This made Katherine very curious. Why would there be a box under the floor board? She looked around the hole and noticed that the wood around the hole was a slightly different color than the wood near the entrance. "Leon look, there's something different about the floor here."

Leon rose up and did as his sister said.

She was right, it was different! Popping into his mind, Leon got a wild idea. "Hmm…just maybe." The boy mumbled to himself as he gazed hard at the floor, deducing how to go through with his idea. He went back the hole and grasped the wood, pulling up on it. Surprisingly the small area of wood came up and revealed a tiny alcove where a large black storage trunk lied. This garnered a small grin from the boy as he put the piece of the floor aside.

Leon kneeled down in front of the small alcove and retrieved the trunk, noting that the contents inside were very heavy. Katherine stood beside her brother with curiosity in her eyes as she tilted her side to side, her way of solving a problem. The brunette fiddled with the lock on the front before giving a dejected sigh. "Looks like we can't open this without having the key. If we tried to force this open we'd only damage the contents inside, and we don't want that do we sis?"

Katherine gave a single nod as she nibbled on her thumb. "I don't like secrets…" She gave one more tilt of her head before she turned around and started walking back to the entrance. "Bring trunk with you when you come down. Dad has some explaining to do."

Leon tried to argue with his sister, but the words died in his throat, leaving him to give another sigh as he stood up and dusted himself off. There was no reasoning with his sister when she was determined to know something. The brunette leaned down and struggled to pick up the trunk a second time. "This is going to suck." The teen groaned as he began the slow process of moving the trunk.

Outside

Hat still covering his face, the older gentleman was still off in dreamland, completely oblivious to the people that had gathered around at his side. They whispered to each other before one of them took a step forward and firmly planted his foot into the slumbering man's side, sending him tumbling to the ground, effectively waking him in a, somewhat, brutish manner.

"Whozza….Wuzz goin on?!" The man slurred, startled and barely awake, as he turned up to face his aggressors.

The others, in turn, gave a hearty laugh as they watched the man flail around. Finally regaining his bearings, the disturbed man looked up and realized who had just ruined his nap. "Really guys? Do we need to go through this every time that you come over and I'm taking a nap?" The man said as he scratched his salt and pepper coloured facial stubble.

"Yes. Yes we do." said a man with glasses.

"You all are just a bunch of assholes. You know that?" The man said as he put his straw fedora back on his head.

"You wouldn't have us any other way." An orange haired man said, grinning while sticking his hands in the pockets of his olive drab coat.

This garnered a small chuckle from the hatted man as he extended his arm out to the last man in the group, a black haired man with a scar running down over his right eye. "You know it's getting harder and harder for you to get up. Do we need to hire a full time nurse for you 'Old Man'?" said the black haired man.

"Shuddap Chris. I'm fine, you guys just surprised me is all," said the hatted man, flustered. He didn't want to admit it, but his age had finally started to really hit him these past couple of days. Your body can only handle so much when it's in its late thirties. "16 years….has it really been that long? I feel like it's just been a short period of time since my younger days." The man shook his head and grinned to his old friends. "So what brings you fellows around here? Did you just want to see this picture of perfection?" The hatted man struck a pose as the others held back a chuckle at his antics.

"That's hardly true my friend. I'm actually surprised that you even still have a wife, let alone you procreating with her!" The man with glasses sassed. But as quickly as the man smiled, it was replaced with a look of seriousness as he tucked his arms in his black winter coat. "You do know what today is don't you?"

The hatted man turned his head to the sky, his eyes dulling over at past memories. "Y-Yeah….I do." The man drew a heavy sigh as he ran his head through his brown hair. "Come on. Let's…talk about this inside. The wife and kids shouldn't be inside right now."

The group of gentlemen in front of him gave a simultaneous nod and followed him inside the house.

Inside

The hatted man walked into his rather spacious living room and looked around at its familiar contents. There was a large, black leather couch that sat toward the back of the room, to the right was a black leather recliner that faced the front door, on the opposite side sat a small red loveseat, and in the middle of the gathering was a well-worn coffee table. The hatted man ushered the group inside. When the group of men chose their seats the hatted man took his place in his recliner, sitting at the edge of the cushion. The man felt his leg nervously tapping, finally realizing why he had been feeling anxious this past week. He mentally kicked himself for not paying attention.

"It really is that day isn't it?" The man felt a shiver go up his spine as old memories presented themselves again. He looked up at his old pals and spoke softly. "I..don't really know where to begin with this. It's bee-"

"DAD!" The man's blood ran cold as he heard his daughter shout at him from the stairs. "You have some explaining to do!" The girl said with her foot tapping the ground.

"Uh-oh looks like someone's busted!" The orange haired man joked, flashing a childish grin.

The hatted man swiftly got up and went over to his daughter. "What is it honey? Wait, scratch that. What are you even doing here and where is your brother?" The man said in a hushed voice.

Katherine said nothing and grabbed her father's hand and led him down the hallway to where her brother was, standing beside the black trunk in front of the attic entrance. The hatted man's heart stopped for a second as he gazed at the aged trunk.

"Dad! Leon and I found this trunk upstairs hidden under a floorboard that Leon fell through. You know I don't like shady things and a black trunk under a floorboard doesn't exactly scream 'Normal'. Now I want some answers!" Katherine finished, the fire in her eyes evident.

The man's hand slipped from his daughter's grasp as he neared the old trunk. His heart raced as he put his hands on the top of the trunk, feeling the age and memories that came along with it. The two siblings saw this and kept their mouths shut as their dad gazed at the trunk with pain and grief showing in his eyes.

With a heavy breath the man lifted the trunk up and turned around to his children. "There is no avoiding this any longer huh?" The man gave another sigh and put on a smile for his children, even if it was a sad one. "There's..uh…something that I need to show you two. I was waiting till you were a bit older, but since you brought this up…" The man turned his gazed back down at the trunk for a second before looking back at his children, "There's something that me and your mother haven't told you. Follow me into the living room." With heavy footsteps the man made his way back to the entrance to the living room. The group of men saw their old friend come through that hall entrance and their hearts raced as they all saw the infamous trunk.

The man laid the trunk on top of the coffee table and slowly walked back to his bedroom. Kneeling in front of the small hope chest that lied in front of the king sized bed, the hatted man lifted the top and slid his hand across the back of the top, feeling for the spot on the corner. Finding what he was feeling for, the man slid his finger behind the faux lid bottom and pulled it back, revealing small metal key that was taped in the middle. The man slid the key out from its binding and took a deep breath, "2 years…I thought I could put it all behind me. Somehow forget….but it doesn't work like that huh?"

The man drew a sigh as he turned around and went back down the hall to the expectant group of people. The hatted man ran his hand across the top of the trunk one more time before inserting the key. The man turned his gaze up and met the eyes of his long-time friend, the man with glasses walked forward and put a hand in his friend's should, giving him a reassuring nod. The man turned back down to the trunk, and with a quick turn of the wrist an audible "Click" was heard, causing the top to come free and reveal the memories that were held within it.

The men gathered in front of the chest and began pulling out various objects that had meaning to them. The man with glasses pulled out a 7 inch knife that had seen better days. The metal had been warped and chipped and the mirror sheen that it once had had been replaced with rust and black stains, the handle had been noticeably replaced and even then it still showed damage.

The orange haired man was up next, pulling out a small hand held attaché case and a pair of small, dirty, silver dog tags. He gazed at the dog tags, feeling the small dents and scratches that were spread across the tiny surface that bared his name, before laying it down on the table to focus his attention to the case. Flipping the top, the man pulled out an old grenade casing, along with various vials that had been labeled with element names and what they corresponded to.

After him was the black haired man, grabbing an old dilapidated sawed off shotgun from the trunk. The barrel, as short as it was, was bent at an awkward angle and the muzzle was clamped shut. Rubbing his hand down the stock of the barrel, the scarred man felt the small carvings that were there. He turned away and let the hatted man have his turn.

Being the last of the group, the hatted man pulled out a majority of the items within the trunk. With steeled eyes, the man began to lay out the last of the mementos Various newspaper clippings and sheets of paper that contained crude drawings of what seemed like maps. The man then pulled out two journals, one green and the other white, a huge brown binder, and a small, thick, black book. The man stopped for a moment and gazed hard into the trunk at what was left, before he picked them up.

They were his items, more specifically; they were an old leather jacket, an old and dirty Colt Python, and the most important to him, a picture.

The man put the picture in his chest pocket for the moment and went on to the other items as the other men and his children stared at him. The man began with the cloth as he reached for the faded red leather jacket that was there. Holding it out at arm's length, the man analyzed his old jacket. It had looked like it had gone to hell and back. There were various tears and scratches on it, but there were two holes that held a deep rooted memory within the man. They were perfectly round holes where the man's right shoulder and his abdomen would have been. The man laid the jacket back down on the table and shook his head, getting the coming memory out of his head before he could become lost in it. Continuing on with his analyses, the man grabbed the revolver and gingerly held it in his hands, feeling the weight of his old time companion. The man flipped the chamber out and ran his thumb along the cylinders, taking special notice of the lone spent bullet casing still inside. The man flipped the chamber back and laid the gun on top of the jacket before looking at his children, who had been completely dumbfounded by the items that had been retrieved.

The hatted man backed back down into his chair and pulled out the photo he had been saving for last. He waved for his children to come over as he gazed hard at the photo, almost becoming immersed in it.

The man ran his hand over the old photo before handing it to the siblings. "Here, I want you to look at that picture. It…..it means a lot to everyone here but, especially me."

The teens complied with their father and turned down to the photo in their hands, surprise written on their face as they saw who was there. In the picture was a group of thirteen people they didn't know most of the people in this photo but, in the middle of the picture was a very familiar group of people. A young man with a spunky looking woman hanging around his neck, a huge smile plastered on both of their faces as the young man held up a peace sign at the camera. Around the two were four young men; one with glasses, who held an easy expression on his face; one with orange hair, playing with a small lighter in his hand; one with black hair, who had a devilish smile on his face; and finally a young man with short brown hair, who towered above the others with a stupid grin on his face.

The brother and sister stood silently as their old man gave them a gentle smile. "I'm pretty sure you can tell who is in the front." The man said as he scratched his stubble. "It's me, your mother, and your Uncles Will, Gio, Chris, and Jake." The man pointed each out as he said their names.

The siblings nodded as they took a seat on the couch next to their father. Leon was the first to break the silence between the family members, "What's with this picture Dad and why haven't we seen all this stuff before?" Leon said, still getting his head around all the cool things that were in the trunk.

"Well…" The man was clearly uncomfortable. "Your mother and I wanted to wait till you were old enough to understand before we told you the truth. You know the story we gave you about how we first met?" The siblings gave a nod. "Well that wasn't….entirely true."

If their faces hadn't shown their curiosity, they were now as they both simultaneously cocked their heads to the side. "Looks like I have some explaining to do," The man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well to begin, I'm sure you have heard about the catastrophic event that took place years ago, one so big that it nearly led to the destruction of the human race." The siblings nodded their heads simultaneously. "Then you've also heard the stories of how a group of people fought against this ultimate threat and practically saved the world from annihilation." The man could see the cogs beginning to turn in their heads. "Well kids…that photo…was taken on December 25th, 16 years ago. The day that everything ended and the world could attempt to go back to normal." The man seemed to trail off on that last sentence.

The imaginary light bulb went off in the siblings' minds as they stared at their dad with wonder. "Wait, so that means..!" Katherine began as she stared back down at the photo and back to her father, making the connection.

"Yes. You are correct. That is a photo of me and the twelve others that journeyed through hell and back together. Today is the day that everything went to hell and the world was plunged into horror."

The teens' eyes went wide as the other men gathered next to their father. "These brave men and women were part of the legendary Devil's Thirteen, and I, Sam Howard, was their leader." The man leaned forward and drew a heavy breath.

"Now, listen to the tale of the Devil's Thirteen."

Author's Notes:

Holy Ass Crackers Batman! I finally did it! I have breathed life back into my creation! Now hopefully I can keep it this way. I don't have anything to say besides I'm a sorry sack of crap for taking this long to do this story, but you of all people should know how things go sometimes….

ANYWAY! I hope you guys enjoyed a taste of what's to come. A small review would be greatly appreciated and help nourish what's left of my small, dying ego.

Well, till next time people.

WW